XSRA's Flame: Fun Edition
by Xera Stark
Summary: A fun one-shot that will be added to the main story once the current arc is concluded. It's just more relevant right now- "HAAAPPPPYY BIIIRRRRRTHDAAAAY XERA!" "Right, thanks Sky. Happy early birthday to you too." Her birthday's tomorrow, the day after mine. Enjoy XD!


XSRA's Flame: Fun Edition

 **Third Person**

"Heads up!" Somebody yelled just seconds from the large volleyball nailing Jaune in the face.

He grunted and fell onto the ground, a red spot already forming on his right cheek. Rex jogged over to the injured blond and stuck out his hand.

"Sorry about that Jaune." He said.

Jaune grabbed his slightly bigger hand and hoisted himself off the sandy floor. He brushed off the sand from his pants and looked up at the towering brick wall, who incidentally was the one who hit the ball at Jaune in the first place.

"It's alright," he mumbled, "I'm used to it."

Rex grinned and patted the scrawny teen's back, causing him to lurch forward expectantly. Rex turned towards the other waiting teens with a grin and shouted, "He's alright guys!"

Everybody else nodded and resumed formations. On one team was Team XSRA. Xera and Allix were in the back while Skyla and Rex were positioned in the front, ready to pound the ball in some poor un-expecting opponent's face. In the center were Ren and Nora, who were both thrilled(Nora) and unexcited(Ren) to be part of this volleyball game; this very painful and bruising game. On the other side was Team RWBY, Destiny, Jaune, and the lamp wielding master, Jax. Much to Jaune's disappointment - and fear - he was situated at the front with Ruby, who was also intimidated by Rex.

Apparently, Jaune didn't quite qualify for a full-fledged player… or so some people said. So Destiny was the addition to the team. Behind them, Weiss and Yang were in the back preparing for some power shots to get the ball over the net. Lastly, Blake, who would rather be reading a book, was in the back middle behind Jax and his gummy bear bowl.

Jax turned towards the bored faunus and held out his bowl, "Gummy bear?"

She shook her head and focused back at the ball now in Xera's hand. He slowly drew back his hand before hitting the ball over the net without a sound.

"The silent server is back again!" Jax yelled as he hit the ball with his forearms.

Ruby ran in and struck the ball towards Nora with ease. Nora grinned and pulled out her hammer. In a split second, the ball was set on fire, whirling towards the other side with superhuman speeds.

Waiting right under the flaming ball was Fate, her crimson hair flowing from the heated breeze the plummeting meteor swirled up and around its whirling form. With her ever confident smirk on her face, she planted her feet into the ground and got ready for a fight.

"I'm stopping it this time you guys! Don't worry!" The ball drilled into her forearms as if it had thrusters for self-propulsion. The two entities entered a forceful struggle, for a few straight minutes the ball and the wolf battled it out. Just as Fate's arms were slowly heating up to uncomfortable degrees, she overpowered it and finally bumped it back up…

The ball was sent over the net in a smoke filled trail of victory…

…far too hard she hit it… and it went skidding across the sand and out of bounds, covering both teams with grains of sand before burying itself into the ground.

"Nora, we said no weapons!" Yang shouted.

Nora giggled and hid her hammer behind her back innocently, "Sorry!"

Weiss shook her head and unburied the burnt ball before holding it up for all to see.

"Look what you did, Nora! Our ball's all burnt now!" She complained.

Xera walked off the court quietly and returned with a brand new ball. Weiss made a sound of annoyance before tossing the damaged ball into a pile full of other destroyed balls. Some were deflated, burnt, popped, slashed, or covered with melted gummy bears. Xera looked back at the dwindling pile of fresh volley balls and then back at his team and the others.

"We're running low on balls. Let's make this one last!" He called out before rolling the ball towards Weiss.

Weiss nodded and gripped the ball. She tossed it up into the air and hit it with her knuckle, sending it flying over the net.

"Got it!" Skyla yelled.

She hit it high up into the air, allowing Rex to leap up and slam the ball into the ground with force. Destiny dove beneath it without hesitation and knocked it back up. It spun into the air, and Yang was able to get beneath it to bump it up again.

"All yours!" She called out.

Destiny smirked and leaped into the air, soaring above the ball and smashing it back down with a downward kick. The sudden propulsion went unexpected, and everyone watched as the ball shot through the air and collided with Rex's face.

The tall guy collapsed to the ground with an echoing 'SMACK'!

"There yah go Jauney, I got him back for you." Destiny extended her fist and Jaune hesitantly bumped it.

"T-thanks."

Ren offered the downed Rex a hand, and the guy took it moments later. The taller teen was pulled to his feet as he looked around for a few seconds, seemingly dazed before letting out a boisterous laugh.

"Now _that's_ what I'm talking about! Game on people!" He declared, picking up the volley ball and rolling it to the next server on the other side.

The ball rolled to Blake's feet and she gently picked it up, eyeing the other side of the net as she did so. With her serve, she stepped back and tossed the ball into the air, then struck it over the net with ease.

"Got it!" Skyla cheered, bumping it up. Allix dipped under the ball and set it up perfectly for Rex to bounce into the air with another mighty roar. "INTIMIDATION!" He screamed, slamming the ball down with force.

Destiny dove for the ball once again, but this time it bounced off the sand just to her side. She grumbled a bit and got up, kicking the ball back to roll towards Jax's foot. He kicked it up and tossed it back towards Ren, the new server.

Ren stared at it with a blank face before sending it off on its way towards the other team. Yang, excited to finally hit the ball, hit it straight back over. Allix hit it from the back a few inches from the net. Rex let out a second war cry and dashed towards the ball, effectively pushing the purple teen out of the way and hitting the ball over the net. Jax hit the ball back over as quickly as it came and watched with glee as it hit the sand on the other side.

"Nice hit." Yang commented with a smirk. She fixed the ray bans on her face and folded her arms across her chest, pleased to be part of the point.

"Sorry about that Skyla." Rex mumbled sheepishly as he helped her up.

Skyla grinned and waved her hand dismissively, "It's okay."

"Rex, control your wrecking ball urges." Xera deadpanned.

Rex slicked back his silver hair and shot Xera a grin, "I'm sorry, but I can't help it! I came in like a wrecking ball for I am…."

He paused before bellowing, "MILEY CYRUS!"

Allix and Skyla both face palmed at their teammate.

"I was really hoping he would say Batman." Nora whispered.

"Who's batman?" Her comrade stared at her in confusion, trying to understand who this man of the bats was.

She shrugged, "Dunno."

"Please serve the ball before he starts singing 'Wrecking Ball'!" Allix pleaded.

Jax grabbed the ball and gave it a few spins before knocking it towards the net, barely nipping the top. Rex hit the ball up into the air and sent it behind him towards Skyla. She hit it up with her forearm towards Nora. Nora leaped up and spiked the ball over the net. Jaune dove for the ball in a mad rush to save it and skidded under the net inside. The ball plopped helplessly onto the ground beside his chest. He let out a groan and face planted into the sand in despair.

"At least you tried." Ruby commented with a reassuring grin.

Jaune sighed and heaved himself off the ground and watched in humiliation as the other team got the ball once again.

He felt someone pat his back and he looked over to see Destiny at his side, "I can always nail someone in the face again." She laughed with a small smile.

"Please don't, I'm pretty sure Rex is the only one who can take a hit like that." He sighed, getting back into position.

"Suit yourself."

The game continued well into the afternoon, ending with the defeat of Team XSRA, Ren and Nora. Team RWBY, Jaune, Destiny, and Jax stole the victory, with the help of Nora's overexcitement and foul balls.

"Nice game." Ruby said, shaking hands with the defeated players.

"You too." Xera replied, speaking up for his team, who were buried deep with shame.

"This sucks! I demand a rematch!" Skyla yelled, stomping her foot on the ground.

Xera sighed, "Sky, I thought we talked about you being a poor sport."

"But I wanted to win." She whined.

Nora gasped out loud and started jumping up and down. "Do the losers have to be drenched in syrup again!? That was so fun! Can we Ren, pretty pleeaasseee."

Ren stared at her stone faced and glanced briefly at Skyla as if to warn her to not go dumping buckets of contents on anyone again before turning back to his hyper-active team mate.

"No."

Nora pouted, "Aw why not?"

"Because you scored all the foul balls."

"It's not just because of Nora. Need I remind you we had Jaune?" Weiss stated from beside Blake.

"Hey!" Jaune exclaimed.

Ruby patted his back, "We all know you're not a very sporty person, Jaune."

Jaune's head hung low as he mumbled, "I know."

"Yeah!" Yang shouted pumping her fist up into the air, "Winner, winner, chicken dinner!"

"Sure, I'll make you some chicken. Did you want it iced, rose flavored, booky, or burnt?" Skyla asked.

Yang froze with her mouth agape before shutting it, "Uh, no thanks. It's a metaphor."

Skyla shrugged with an innocent smile plastered on her face before skipping away. Yang and Ruby shared a frightened look while Weiss shrugged it off.

"I've heard worse." She mumbled, ignoring the two sisters.

Xera shook his head and followed his partner back into the dorms with Allix and Rex hot on their tails. After bidding each other goodbye and good games, the teams dispersed to do their own things. Team RWBY, Ren, Nora, and Jaune went to a café to celebrate their victory.

When Xera, Allix, and Rex walked into the dorm room, they found Skyla lying down on the bed with her head hanging off the side. She turned on command to the door opening and grinned.

"Hey I have a serious question." She stated.

"What is it?" Allix asked, plopping down onto the bed with exhaustion.

She sat up momentarily and stared her team dead in the eye before asking, "Do vampires pee?"

Allix opened her mouth to brush her question off as stupidity, but froze. She thought over the question before sitting up.

"I think they do." Allix said.

"What? No way! Have you ever seen Edward Cullens pee?" Rex exclaimed.

"Edward Cullens? As in Edward from Twilight?" Allix asked, snickering slightly.

"Yes, and need I remind you, our glorious sparkly vampire does not pee." Rex added triumphantly.

Allix nodded in amusement as Xera whipped out his scroll. After typing in the thought provoking question, he searched through the web, finding different answers. After reading through some hilarious- and disturbing- blogs, he settled on one that would make all the members of his team happy.

"I have the answer." He said, breaking the conversation between the two.

They turned towards him and waited expectantly for the answer. Xera dramatically fixed his scroll and cleared his throat, much like how an announcer in the Renaissance times would.

"Fun fact: Plasma, which composes fifty five percent of human blood, is also mainly water. For a regular meal, a vampire bat drinks half its body weight in blood and proceeds to urinate almost constantly for the next three to six hours. " He paused to laugh.

"That could be problematic for the sexy, suave hunter of the night. But do vampires poo? If they're just animating some parts of their body and decide to keep the digestive system inactive, they may not need to poo or even pee constantly like vampire bats. But if they do reanimate all their organs to be like humans, they should be doing both. Vampire bats leave small droppings, albeit very small ones. If someone is horrified at the thought of majestic, stunningly beautiful vampires," He paused and shot a glance at Rex, "making hilariously small leavings, then fine, use magic to make it vanish. But if you insist that you still need to admit vampires shouldn't look glimmeringly pale in moonlight. Blood also carries cellular waste like carbon dioxide and urea. Vampires still need to get rid of the excess iron or they would have weird yellow or dark skin tones from buildup of urea and iron. So if they're not passing their excess the way a mere mortal would, maybe they just have fantastically icky sweat instead." He finished by closing out of the article and putting his scroll away.

After a moment of silence, the team broke out into howls of laughter.

"Little droppings!" Skyla exclaimed while laughing breathlessly.

"Just imagine Dracula flying around while dropping small little poos." Allix said while hiding her laughter.

"Sexy, suave, majestic, stunningly beautiful."

"Just imagine if they did. It'll just be a waterfall, plop plop plop plop plop plop. Three hours later, plop plop plop plop plop." Xera added to the conversation.

"Wait, gotta bring some chips in here. It's gonna be a while." Skyla said.

"Hey Rex," Allix called out, "How would Edward look making hilariously small droppings for six hours?"

Rex bellowed out a boisterous laugh and wiped a tear from his eye, clutching his side at the same time, "Majestic."

Skyla stood up from her spot on the bed and declared, "Vampires pee for six hours with small droppings!"

And so, the rest of the day consisted on jokes about vampires and dropping marbles into the toilet, one after the other in rapid speed.

* * *

 **(** _The Next Day_ **)**

Skyla squealed from outside the door, startling Allix awake. She glared menacingly at the door and let out a sigh, flopping back onto the bed. She glanced to her side and saw Xera sleeping peacefully, most likely already used to Skyla's antics. Rex was fast asleep as well, however he was most commonly known as the heaviest sleeper in Beacon. Skyla rushed in and slammed the door open with a large box in her hands. Xera peaked out from under his covers to see his partner standing there beaming at the three of them with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"I got a care package from Amy!" She exclaimed, ripping open the box.

"Amy?" Xera asked, yawning.

"Fiala is her real name, but I like to call her Amethyst. She's my sister"

"As in the color?" Allix asked, getting up from her bed.

Skyla nodded, "Her main theme is purple, just like mine. She's always been a big sister girl!" She giggled happily.

"What's in the box?" A deep voice asked from deep within the caverns of the lump on Rex's bed. It moved slightly and rose up, revealing a sleepy Rex.

"Something I asked my sister for a looonnngggg time ago!" She pulled out four toy hamsters, each ranging in colors based on the people in the room. One was a deep green, another was red with hints of black, the larger of the four had white and gold, and the final one had purple and black scattered on it.

"Hamsters?" Xera asked as he stared at the rodents with skeptical eyes.

"Correction, Zhu-Zhu pets. They operate on battery and we're going to race them."

Five minutes have passed and Team XSRA was situtated outside their dorm room and in the hallway with each hamster lined up in front of the corresponding team member. Standing near the finish line was Team RWBY with Jaune, Nora, and Ren, each standing by the lane of which hamster they believe will win.

"Alright, Skyla hamster! You got this!" Skyla cheered to the inanimate object.

Allix stroked the fuzzy head of the animatronic and prepared herself for the race while Rex was having his hamster do pushups on its wheels. Xera stood back and watched the getup with a small sense of happiness, admiring all the excited faces for something as trivial as an electronic hamster race. He crouched down in front of the hamster as the big moment soon arrived.

"Get ready contestants!" Yang yelled from across the hall.

"On your mark," Ruby said.

"Get set," Weiss added.

"Goooooo!" Nora's voice echoed through the dorm, disturbing more than half the students still sleeping inside.

All four team members pressed the back of their hamsters and watched them take off, each chanting whatever they named their animal.

"Come on Rexinator! Do it! Win like the true winner you are!" Rex cheered, moving his arms around like a headless chicken.

Allix watched in anticipation beside Xera, both chanting cheers inside their heads for their own hamster. Skyla, however, was somehow changed in a new outfit. Instead of her usual getup, she was now wearing a purple and black cheer leader's outfit with purple pompoms as she shouted out reassuring cheers to her hamster.

Rex's hamster suddenly jerked to the right and did a U turn and began making its way back towards Rex. Rex let out a cry of despair and tried desperately to turn it around without interfering. Soon, Skyla's and Xera's followed and began making their way back to the starting line. Skyla scoffed and set down her pompoms.

"I forgot they did that." She mumbled as she watched her hamster do yet another turn and ram straight into a wall.

Ruby let out a loud cheer as Allix's crossed the finish line first and begin backtracking.

"We woonnnn!" She exclaimed victoriously.

Just as everybody began to move, Skyla's shout froze them in spot, "Second place is still open! Nobody move!"

Everybody froze in spot, watching the remaining three hamsters with anticipation. However, it wasn't nerve wracking on their end. In fact, it was more amusing with the machine's constant turning, if you count that amusing. Skyla let out an ear shattering cheer as her purple hamster finally crossed the finish line, making Xera's and Rex's the last one in the game. Allix picked up her hamster and clicked it off, petting it affectionately.

"Good little hamster." She whispered.

* * *

And so the day ended with Xera's hamster coming in last, much to his disappointment. Allix was very proud about her hamster winning in a landslide and built a small shrine beside her bed to display the fake hamster in all its glory. Which, surprisingly, looked rather cute on its pedestal.

Skyla returned to her bed, finding herself more exhausted than ever. Xera gave his hyper partner his hamster to keep while Rex remained in the hall, yelling and bellowing cheers for his hamster. Since the race, he's been out there 'training' it for the next race. And he hasn't let up since.

The only two things keeping the other people from beating him up were his height and the fact he was wearing his own cheerleader outfit with a short skirt. Fake pigtails were pinned to his silver hair as he cheered on for his hamster to win a nonexistent race.

If his height didn't scare people, his fake boobs and short skirt will.

All was well and the remaining teams went to sleep. Actually only team XSRA got sleep that night, since they were used to Rex by now. The others were forced through a sleepless night full of shouts 'Go You Little Dumb Hamster' 'BE A MAN!' and Skyla's favorite, 'Shake that hamster booty and cross that finish line like the man you are! Or…um… hamster you are…'.

Xera settled back onto his bed, ignoring the oversized brick wall outside his door, and opened his journal. October was nearing an end and as soon as it does, he would turn one more number. If he had to be honest, birthdays were one of the things he didn't understand. They were just one more day in a year, except it's now dedicated to you and everybody will stop you in the middle of things and say 'Happy Birthday!'. It's a confusing tradition, but fun nonetheless.

The next morning, Rex was found in his bed, cuddling the hamster who now wore a track suit. Xera was woken up by someone shaking him violently while screaming in his ear.

"Happpyyyy Birtthhhdaaaayyyyyy!" Skyla yelled as she shook the poor teen out of his skin.

She grinned happily and took a step back when she saw his eyes open. He stared at Skyla for a moment before breaking into a smile. "Thanks."

She cheered as Allix wished him a happy birthday as well.

"Let's get some French toast!" Skyla announced, swinging the door open with excitement. But she got carried away and the door ended up breaking off its hinges. Behind the now dislodged door was a Destiny mid-knock. She had a look of confusion on her face as Sklya giggled innocently. She stared at the door, then to Destiny, then back to the door with a dumfounded expression for a few moments before setting it back beside the frame.

She took one step out, whistling, and dashed away from the crime scene.

"Sorry." Allix apologized to Destiny, the wolf's black hair looking a little frazzled, before slipping past her and chasing after Skyla.

Rex just followed suit, sparing a glance at her before disappearing down the hall.

"Uh, hey Destiny. What's up? Something wrong?" Xera asked. He had no idea why she were here. A look of confusion on his face as he looked at her, then what was in her hands. _What the? There's no way she could've known._

After the shock of what exactly just happened washed away, Destiny retracted her fist away from the now broken door and looked to Xera with a small blush. "I heard Skyla talking about your birthday during the volleyball match. So, I thought I would give you something. It's nothing special and I'm not even sure if you'll like it… but here… just take it."

She forced the gift into Xera's hands and looked away, her ears flattening against her head.

 _Oh? What's this? Are you getting embarrassed little sis? I mean, sure he is pretty hot but we've got our little bun-bun waiting for us back in our room. Or maybe… you're trying to play two hands of cards!_

Xera was a bit stunned at first. The two didn't know each other for too long, but she's already done so much for him that this was simply unneeded. After realizing it was a gift though, he decided to take a look anyway.

"Thanks, you really didn't have to…" He opened the journal sitting in his hands and flipped through the pages. They… they were story concepts, ideas. "A-are you sure you want to give this to me? These are your ideas?" He asked, unsure whether or not to accept the gift anymore.

Destiny simply nodded her head, looking at the floor in the hallway. "If you don't like it, I understand. I mean, if I had known it was your birthday sooner I would have went out and gotten you a proper gift. I'm sorry." Her ears went flat against her head, features clearly showing sadness in her character. _Fate shut up, this hasn't got anything to do with you right now… and I don't need your teasing._

Xera took notice of her ears drooping, and it made his heart drop at the thought of her thinking the gift was bad. He quickly waved his hands, journal flailing but closed. "N-no, I honestly think it's awesome that you wanted to give me something on my birthday! Especially something you probably see as special. It's just... I don't know what to say. I haven't celebrated my birthday in years, this is... sort of my first gift in 5 years..." He trailed off.

Destiny could literally feel Fate's eternal smirk. _Ooooo, kitten's got claws! Aright, you want me to have a reason with this? Fine… I'll give him a gift too._ Destiny's purple eyes widened in realization just as her hair melted into a deep red. Fate took over, smiling at Xera and gave him a small wave. "Hey there, birthday bird."

Destiny's mind was reeling from the sudden switch, looking through Fates eye's knowing exactly what was going through her mind. She knew she didn't have a gift. _Fate! Don't you dare do it! I swear to Oum if you do it I will never forgive you!_

Fate heard her sister's threat but simply ignored it, smiling more at Xera's words instead. "Glad you like the gift birdbrain, now I've got one for you too. But… before I give it to you… you've gotta close your eyes since it's so sweet! I want it to really be a surprise!" _Oh, come on. We both know this has been a long time coming for him. He's just always by that damn fine looking cat! So, I've never gotten a shot to do it._ Fate countered Destiny in their shared mind.

"H-huh?" Xera looked at Fate skeptically. _Fate is prone to be… uh… straight forward. But, she's with Velvet now. From what I saw in Pyrrha's infirmary room, Fate and Destiny both fell for her pretty hard. So I doubt she'll be too devious here._ The looks of contemplation suddenly stopped on his face, his eyes flashing between colors as he finally just shut them; showing Fate that he was willing to trust her.

 _Bad move…_ Destiny was fighting for control frantically, but unable to push through Fates mental barrier. Whimpering and shouting out every curse known to man and faunus alike, but it was too late.

Fates lips crash against Xera's and her arms wrap around his neck. _I'm so telling Velvet you did this! When we see her… Fate, you are going to be in her rabbit cage so bad! I hope you understand!_

Xera's mind was kicked into overdrive for a few seconds before burning itself out. He didn't know what to do.

His eyes shot open, a gleaming pair of embarrassed orange eyes looking at Fate's closed ones. She still had her arms around his neck. For a brief moment, they flashed to pink but immediately melted back into orange as a quickly flowing redness deepened in his cheeks.

 _D-damnit, I should've seen that coming. What will Blake think?!_ He was still locked up for a few seconds, obviously running through everything that just happened and soon drifted into clear confusion.

Far past it being too late, he leaned away and managed to break contact. "H-hey! I thought you and Velvet w-were a thing?! Like… together-together!" He asked, still noticeably embarrassed.

Fate just opened her eyes and smirked, tilting her head as she leaned back. But on the inside, she whimpered and shivered in fear. She suddenly realized exactly what kind of scary things Velvet could do to her.

She had medical training after all. "We are, sh-she is my lovely chocolate bunny. Now, if you'll excuse me… I need to go buy some carrot cake and flowers as an apology. Enjoy your book and birthday!"

"W-wait!" Xera suddenly interrupted, "You can't just kiss someone on their birthday! W-what was that even about?!" He frantically tried to get some sort of explanation. Now he knew Velvet and her were a thing, but that just makes this that much more confusing.

Fate turned around, her usual playful banter present for the moment. At least… for a little bit. She was terrified of having her body immobilized again.

Remembering back to the day she was healthy enough to move on her own again. She knocked that one nurse out and was in the middle of stripping her. It was all so that she could sneak out of the hellhole that was a hospital… until Velvet walked into their room.

"Simple, I told you I've liked you Xera and I wasn't lying but you chose that fine piece of Bellabooty over me. Which I can't blame you, but I had to give you that kiss I'd been promising you for a long time now at some point right?" She explained, stepping further out into the hallway.

 _P-promising? I don't remember there being a promise for that. But I had no idea you even thought of me as anything like that. I mean, what am I even supposed to do now. I have to tell bellabooty- oh god, I just thought that._ Xera's cheeks flushed infinitely more red and his eyes quickly transitioned to pink.

 _Damnit! Why does that nickname fit her so nicely?!_ He mentally slapped himself and pulled his thoughts together. _Come on Xera! This is serious! You just kissed another girl! Maybe Fate's got the right idea. Flowers, fish, a nice dinner… lots of scratching her ears to distract her. Maybe that'll work!_ His eyes looked to Fate. She seemed to be looking back at him from the doorway in curiosity.

Xera blinked and quickly looked away, too conflicted to really do anything else right now. He had to say one more thing before she ran off though. "Y-you know, if my heart wasn't already in Blake's hands… I'd have probably fallen for you instead." He sighed, closing his eyes then turning fully around.

He then walked over and placed the journal under his bed, tucking it into a storage compartment.

* * *

After catching up to his team, they entered a café and immediately picked up on the calm, comfortable atmosphere. Allix smiled in delight, as did Rex, and took a seat by the window. Xera sat down as well and felt a presence beside him, one that was not there before. When he turned, he was greeted with two familiar purple eyes, staring intently at him. As he looked back, he realized she wasn't staring at him. She was staring behind him.

He turned around and saw a group of workers marching in his direction, each carrying metal trays with tops. Allix and Rex grinned with anticipation while Skyla wore the most mischievous grin she could muster. The group watched with watering mouths as the trays were set in front of each person. On cue, the tops rose by the workers and quickly disappeared as fast as they had appeared.

Xera's worries quickly washed away as his eyes widened. He stared at a beautiful, fluffy, delectable pile of French toast. His mouth instinctively watered as he stared down the steaming breakfast item with hunger.

"Yay birthday breakfast!" Skyla cheered, stabbing her top toast and taking a giant bite out of it.

"Skyla!" Allix exclaimed, "Not yet! We still have to sing happy birthday to him!"

Skyla's cheeks burned with embarrassment as she set the food down, "Oh right! Hehe, I forgot about that."

Rex glanced at Xera and opened his mouth, "Happy Birthday to you,"

"Happy Birthday to you!" Skyla and Allix piped in with their own cheery tones.

"Haaapppyyy biRTHDAY DEAR XERA!" Rex screamed at the top of his lungs, causing the table to vibrate with his massive voice. Xera cringed, suddenly regretting ever sitting beside Rex.

The three finished the song in unison, each with a different- and equally terrible- singing voices. Rex's however, stood out the most and cracked the most, causing half the café to stare warily at the group.

Xera smiled gently when they finished, "Thanks guys."

They all grinned and dug into their share of the French toast. Xera polished off his remainder of his French toast with a pleased grin. It was just as amazing as it looked.

"Thanks for the French toast…and the boisterous birthday wishes." He finally said after they all finished.

Allix grinned, "No problem!"

"Yayyyyy birthday celebrations!" Skyla replied, bouncing in her seat with excitement.

"Hehe. That boisterous was towards me, wasn't it?" Rex asked.

* * *

 **First one-shot, which was entirely written by** **Sky** **for you lovely people. Bear in mind though, as soon as the current arc ends in the main story, this chapter will be moved into that one for its rightful place in our world.**

 **If you're wondering why it's posted as a one-shot for now, well… it's just more relevant this way-**

 **Sky: *Bursts into the family room* HAAAAAPPPPPYYYY BIIIIRRRRTHDAAAAAAY XERA!**

 **Xera: R-right, yeah. That's today-**

 **Sky: Happy Birthday!**

 **Xera: Thanks. Anyway, yeah, so today (November 1st) happens to be my birthday… yeah. I turned 18 today.**

 **Sky: Fun fact, my birthday's tomorrow! *Sky commented happily, looking over my shoulder at my laptop***

 **Xera: Happy early birthday, Sky.**

 **Sky: Yay! Thanks!**

 **Anyway, like I was saying before. This one-shot is technically not a 'one-shot', it'll fit into the real story somewhere. It just can't fit in as of right now in the current arc, and I felt it made more sense to post it here today.**

 **Hope it was fun to read!**

 **Go check out the main story, XSRA's Flame.**

 **Cya :P**

 **Sky: Bye-bye people!**


End file.
